British oil giant BP (BP.L) is set to invest up to $25 billion over the lifetime of a project to redevelop four oil and gas fields in Iraq’s Kirkuk, a senior Iraqi oil official told Reuters, as reported by Shafaq News.
The agreement, expected to be finalized in the coming weeks, represents a major breakthrough for Iraq, where oil production has been hampered by years of war, corruption, and political instability.
BP is poised to enter a profit-sharing agreement spanning over 25 years, with investments estimated between $20 billion and $25 billion. The scale of this investment had not been previously disclosed.
While BP declined to comment on the latest developments, it referred to a statement issued last month, confirming significant progress with the Iraqi government toward an agreement to support the redevelopment of Kirkuk’s oil fields.
This would be Iraq’s second major agreement with an international oil company in two years, following a $27 billion deal with France’s TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) in Basra.
BP’s project will focus on rehabilitating infrastructure across four oilfields and developing natural gas resources to meet Iraq’s growing domestic energy demands.
According to the official, technical and economic negotiations are advancing well, with final contracts expected to be signed by mid-February.
As part of the deal, BP plans to boost crude production capacity in Kirkuk by 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) within two to three years, increasing total capacity from 300,000 bpd to at least 450,000 bpd.
Under the proposed profit-sharing model, BP would recover costs and begin generating profits once production surpasses current output levels, the official added.
